3,000 Miles
by theypreferthetermpeople
Summary: When Lexi is ripped from the lives of Jesús and Mariana, both are heartbroken. After trying to pretend they're fine, the twins find comfort in each other, and later, in their mothers. (Fluff to the max)
1. Chapter 1: The News

_This is my first attempt at a multi-chapter anything, because I'm terrible at carrying a storyline out. But I was really frustrated by the show's lack of coverage of Jesús and Mariana's mourning at losing Lexi, and I felt the need to fill the whole. Basically, this is going to be about five chapters. Also, thanks to everyone for the nice reviews - I rarely check my fanfic profile but it's so wonderful to see all the sweet things y'all say. I hope this is up to snuff! Also, it was pointed out to me by _lifesizehysteria_ that the picnic takes place in the Fosters' garden, not in the Rivera's. Oops. Ignore that, please._

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><p>Mariana's jaw fell open comically, a cartoon caricature of shock. Her English teacher's brow furrowed in response to her obvious confusion.<p>

"She didn't tell you?" Timothy asked, puzzled. He knew Lexi Rivera and Mariana Foster were best friends; he'd had to separate them more than enough times. He couldn't imagine the tall girl keeping a secret this big from her friend, but then again, he wasn't a teenage girl.

Mariana snapped her mouth shut, shaking her head.

"Oh, Mariana, I'm sorry," Timothy started, but the sophomore had already ran out of his classroom. Sighing, he turned back to his desk and began to prepare for his next lesson.

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><p>Mariana ran down the hall blindly, her chest tight. Finally, she was out in the sunny San Diego air, throwing herself down onto a cafeteria bench and gasping for breath. Lexi, <em>her <em>Lexi, leaving forever? It couldn't be. She remembered her grandmother's quip at breakfast that morning, and bit her bottom lip, a single tear falling down her cheek. She knew she had to see her friend.

She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and texted Lexi  
><em>Timothy told me you're leaving. Are you at your house?<br>_It only took a moment for the other girl to respond.

_Yeah. Come see me?_

_On my way_, Mariana texted, standing up and pulling her bag back onto her shoulder. She shoved the cell into her shorts again and glanced around for any adults. Upon seeing no one, she walked towards the beach, following her own advice to Callie so many weeks ago and leaving out the back way, so Lena couldn't see.

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><p>Mariana sat on Lexi's front steps, waiting for Jesús to finish saying goodbye. She'd made a picnic for her brother and friend, a Last Supper in its own right. She felt drained, like she had cried every possible tear in the world that afternoon. Her phone buzzed, and she flipped it over to reveal a text from her mum.<p>

_Do you know where Jesús is? His board is home but he's not._

She sighed, unlocking her phone with a few clicks and writing a response.

_Yeah, we're together. Home in 15._

The door creaked behind her and her twin came out of their best friend's house, clearly struggling not to cry. Mariana stood up and held her arms out, and brother and sister fell into each other with a sigh.  
>"Mom texted me," Mariana said after their hug.<p>

"Are we in trouble?"

"No. I told her we'd be home soon, though, so we should probably start walking." Jesús nodded, and the twins headed for home, walking in dismal silence. After a few blocks, Jesús reached out and wrapped his arm around his sister's shoulders, holding her close. She put hers around his waist, leaning slightly on him, grateful for the comfort. Comforting Mariana made Jesús feel strong when all he wanted to do was curl into a ball and collapse. Still, he refused to cry, or show any emotion other than brotherly care.

The twins separated as they walked up the front stairs of their house and Mariana pulled the door open. Stef and Lena were both waiting in the living room, hands on their hips.

"Where were you two?" Lena asked, lips pinched tight.

"Just hanging out," Jesús said casually, glancing at his sister. "Why, are we in trouble?"

"Well, you both skipped two classes this afternoon," Lena accused, "and Mariana skipped three. Is there something you'd care to tell us?" The twins exchanged another look. Stef was usually the disciplinarian, but Lena had a thing about school attendance.

"It was an emergency," Mariana said finally, after a pregnant pause. She knew she'd have to tell her mothers eventually about Lexi leaving, but didn't feel she trusted herself to explain without crying.

"An emergency," Stef repeated, raising one eyebrow. "What sort of emergency?"

"Umm…" Mariana started, blinking furiously, but Jesús interrupted, trying to save his sister.

"Don't worry about it, moms." His voice was rough, hostile. He turned around and headed for the stairs

"Excuse me?" Lena said, stepping forward and grabbing her son's wrist. "You don't walk away, Jesús Foster. Tell us what's going on."

"Is it Ana?" Stef interrogated.

"No!" Jesús said emphatically, pulling his arm away from his mother.

"Then what?" Lena asked.

"Mama, it's nothing," Jesús responded angrily, crossing his arms. Stef and Lena exchanged a look. They recognized the anger as Jesús' usual defense for emotions, including guilt.

"Mariana, what happened?" Lena knew to target the weaker link.

"Nothing," her daughter said, tears coming to her eyes again. "Can we please talk about this later?" Another look passed between the mums. They could see their daughter starting to crack.

"Alright," Stef said with a sigh. "We'll talk to you two after dinner." The twins turned and thundered upstairs. "What was that?" she asked her wife.

"Why should I know?" Lena said irritably.

"They're lying, you know," Jude said from his seat at the dining room table. He hadn't even turned around, but neither mum was surprised he'd been listening.

"What's that, baby?" Stef said, coming up behind him.

"Mariana was using her lying voice." Jude shrugged matter-of-factly. "Her voice always gets that tension in it when she's lying. Or when she's trying not to cry." Stef kissed his head.

"Do your math, you eavesdropper," she order, ruffling his hair. "And when you're finished, if you want to come help set the table, that'd be really great. Mama's making stir fry."

"Okay," Jude said, smiling up at Stef. "I'm almost done."

"You've gotten a lot faster at that, bud," Lena commented, pulling her hair up onto her head. "Way to go." She too kissed Jude's head, and the boy beamed.


	2. Chapter 2: The Mourning

_Okay, I struggled with this chapter a bit, because I'm much better at having ideas than I am at writing them, and also, I don't like writing sad people. I just wanted to move on to the comforting. It is coming! Anyway, this is shorter than the last, and probably worse. Oops. Also, I think I forgot to mention this last chapter, but I, like, don't own The Fosters or anything._

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><p>Mariana ran upstairs, ignoring Jesús and her mums. She burst into her room, thankful Callie wasn't there, slammed the door, and began to sob. Holding her tears back while getting interrogated by her mums hadn't been easy, and she felt fit to burst. She hadn't even thought about the consequences of missing school; saying goodbye to Lexi was so much more important than a stupid chemistry class. She curled up on her bed, clutching a pillow to her chest, and shook, her breath coming in short gasps. Luckily, no one was around to hear, since everyone else was downstairs, out of the house, or, in the case of Jesús, preoccupied with their own feelings.<p>

Jesús ran into his own bedroom, also mercifully empty, and grabbed a book off his shelf and chucked it angrily to the floor. He hated crying and being sad, and usually avoided serious emotions entirely with wisecracks and anger. Today was no exception. He grabbed a notebook off his desk and ripped it forcefully before dropping the torn object to the ground as well. His teeth ground together and he looked down at his hands, clenched into fists unconsciously. Jesús took a deep breath and, without thinking, pulled his fist up and drove it into the wall next to his desk. His hand bounced off the plaster, leaving a small dent but fortunately not breaking the wall, and the pain brought him back into his body.

"Shit," he mumbled, grabbing his knucles with his other hand and biting his bottom lip. He noticed the shreds of paper all over his floor and set about picking them up, his hand and eyes smarting. "I'm not going to cry," he told himself. "I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry." Despite his mantra, his eyes continued to prickle. "I'M NOT GOING TO CRY," he shouted, grabbing another book and hurling it at the ground. He fell onto his back in bed, running his hands through his hair, and stared at his ceiling.

In the kitchen, the thuds from Jesús' room did not go unnoticed by his mothers.

"Wonder what's going on up there," Stef commented idly, as a muffled shout echoed downstairs, followed by another thump.

"I only hear Jesús' voice, so I doubt he and Mariana are fighting." Lena scrambled the greens absentmindedly. "You want to check on them?"

"The sounds have stopped," Stef observed. "Maybe we should just let them be. They both seemed pretty upset when they got home, especially Mariana."

"Yeah, I wonder what that was about. I figured we would talk to them about skipping after dinner. Mariana looked ready to burst into tears when they got home."

"I know, and Jesús was clearly having feelings too. I guess we can handle them later."

"I'm ready to set the table," Jude interrupted, his tiny voice having gained some confidence over the weeks in the Adams Foster household.

"Wonderful," Stef said with a smile. "There's just the five of us tonight. Brandon's at his dad's."

"Okay," Jude said simply, getting out the plates. No one mentioned Callie's conspicuous absence.

"Jesús! Mariana! Dinner!" Stef shouted up the stairs. Upon hearing no response, she gave Lena a quizzical look and climbed the stairs. She knocked on Mariana's door. "Mariana? Dinner's ready."

"Coming," Mariana called thickly.

"You okay, baby?" Stef asked, concerned. She could hear the tears in her daughter's voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mariana said with a sniff. "I just need to wash up and I'll be right down."

Stef shrugged, not buying the story but figuring there was no use in pushing her. "Alright, love, hurry up." She moved along the hall and knocked on Jesús' door. "Jesús? Dinner time." She was met with silence, and she knocked again. "Jesús? Can I come in?" Upon hearing no response, she opened his door slowly. She scanned the room for her son and found him lying on his back in bed, eyes closed. He looked exhausted, and she hated to wake him up, but she knew her son would never pass up food. She shook his shoulder gently. "Jesús, love, it's dinnertime." He started awake.

"Sorry, I'll be right down," he said, running a hand over his face and sitting up.

"You okay, bud?" His mum laid a hand on his shoulder, which he twitched off.

"Fine," he said, a hint of his former anger creeping into his tone.

Stef let it go. "Alright. Wash up and come down for dinner, please."


	3. Chapter 3: The Twins

_I finished this chapter at 2am, so my apologies if it's a bit rough. Also, I had trouble writing this without getting into the kind of content I want to cover in the next chapter (which will likely be the last, despite my original wishes for five chapters; I just don't think I have enough material). So my apologies also if you feel like this is weird or forced or something. I don't know. It's two in the freaking morning. Also, I don't own The Fosters. Do I have to say that?_

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><p>After a quiet dinner, Jude cleared the plates without being asked, and began to wash them. Despite Stef and Lena's constant protests, the boy liked helping out, especially in the kitchen, and they could never dissuade him from taking on more than his fair share. Mariana normally would have been grateful to get out of her turn for dish duty, but she had spent the entire meal in a foggy, dismal haze, starting when spoken to, and responding in syllables. Both twins got up from the table and headed upstairs immediately after finishing, Jesús mumbling a thank you to Lena for cooking, and another to Jude for cleaning up. Stef raised her eyebrows at Lena, plainly asking if they should accost the twins now to talk about their earlier transgression, and Lena shook her head slightly. <em>Let them go<em>, she mouthed. Stef nodded.

Upstairs, Jesús and Mariana each went into their respective rooms and closed their doors. Mariana sat on the edge of her bed and looked at the collage Lexi had made for her _quinceñera_, tears welling in her eyes again. She wiped her face roughly with the back of her hand, and then gave up on restraint and let the tears fall. Her best friend in the whole entire world was gone – just gone for good. And there was no way anyone would understand.

Jesús sat on his bed and stared at the floorboards under his sock-covered feet. His girlfriend, his Lexi, was gone. Really, really gone. She wasn't just under house arrest or hiding in Wyatt's dilapidated house. She was in Honduras – well, she was probably in the air right now. But regardless, she was gone. He searched within himself for some anger to guard against the rapidly approaching emptiness and found none. The stabbing pain of loss consumed him, and he slowly hit his thigh with one fist, over and over.

A soft knock on his door interrupted Jesús' steadily building sadness. He exhaled heavily, trying to keep the tears at bay. "Who is it?"

"It's Mariana," came the quiet response. He could hear the exhaustion in his sister's voice.

"Come in," he replied. She opened the door quietly and walked to his bed, sitting down beside him.

"You okay?" she asked seriously. He shrugged.

"Not really," Jesús admitted. "Are you?" Mariana let out a small laugh, shaking her head. "Didn't think so," he answered himself, holding his arms out to her. Mariana rested her head on her brother's chest and began to cry.

"I just miss her so much," she wailed. Jesús stroked her hair.

"I know. Me too. But at least we have each other, right?" he comforted. Then, frightened she'd misinterpret, he hastily clarified, "I mean, obviously you're not going to be my girlfriend. But you know what I mean. Right? At least we can miss her together." Mariana nodded, sniffing.

"She was my best friend," she said in a small voice. "Since forever. Since before we were adopted, even. She was the first person I felt safe around after you."

"I know," Jesús said, still caressing his sister's hair. "And I only dated her for a few weeks. I get it. I can't compare what we had to what you two had. I know that."

Mariana pulled away, breathing deeply to get ahold of herself. "Don't say that, Jesús. I mean, she was the first girl you… you know… did _it_ with. That's a pretty big deal." Jesús smirked a little. "Unless she wasn't your first?" Mariana asked, her eyes widening. Her brother opened his mouth and she shook her head, holding up one hand in a 'stop' gesture. "Boy, I don't even want to know."

"She was my first," Jesús said, the sadness creeping back into his voice. Mariana put her hand on his wrist.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, rubbing her thumb gently along the back of his hand.

"It's not fair," Jesús said, his hands curling into fists once again.

"No, it's not," Mariana answered, shaking her head gently. "But it happened, right? And now we just have to-"  
>"Move on?" He laughed derisively. "Forget it, Mari. There's no way I'm moving on."<p>

"I wasn't going to say that," his sister defended. "I was going to say we have to… I don't know." She sighed. "Something. We have to do something?"  
>"Like what?" Jesús said, a hardness in his voice. "Like forget her? Like find new best friends and girlfriends? That's not going to happen, Mariana!" He was almost yelling by the end of his sentence.<p>

"Stop it, Jesús," she order, her voice shaky. "Don't get mad at _me._"

"I'm not mad at you!" he yelled. "I'm mad at her! And her parents! Why did they do this?" He started to cry for the first time since Lexi had kissed him goodbye. As the tears began to roll down her twin's face, Mariana felt her own beginning to form again. Just then, there was another knock on Jesús' bedroom door.


	4. Chapter 4: The Moms

_Alrighty, I posted as soon as I could. Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than the previous. Thanks for sticking with this story til the end! I don't own The Fosters._

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><p>"Who is it?" Jesús managed through his angry tears.<p>

"It's Mom. Can I come in?" Stef sounded concerned. The twins exchanged a look; Mariana nodded, sniffling.

"Sure," Jesús allowed, resting his forehead in his palms. His mum opened the door gently, taking in the sight of her teenagers sitting together and crying. It had been years since she'd seen Jesús cry.

"What's going on, loves?" she asked gently, crossing the room and taking a seat between them, putting one arm around each child. She'd been planning on scolding them for skipping, but could tell now wasn't the time.

"Lexi left today," Mariana said quietly. She'd been crying all day and was better able to get control of herself now, while Jesús, having finally let go, was more or less a mess pressed into his mother's shoulder.

"Are you two really all weepy about that?" Stef laughed. "Oh, honeys. It's two weeks!" Another sob welled up in Mariana.

"No, it isn't. It's forever. They're never coming back," she bawled.

"What?" Stef shifted to push Mariana away from her and make eye contact. "Are you serious?"

"She's moved to Honduras for good," her daughter wailed, falling into her mom's lap.  
>"Oh, baby," Stef soothed, stroking her smooth black hair. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could bring her back." Mariana sat up, wiping her eyes.<p>

"The problem is, no one can," Mariana said, sniffing. "Except her stupid parents."

"You know they had no choice," Stef reminded her gently. "Ernie's mother is ill. They needed to see her. And it's very hard being undocumented in this country."

Jesús pulled away from Stef's embrace and sniffed angrily. He hated crying, and he especially hated doing it in front of people. He didn't want his mom or Mariana to think he was weak.

"It's okay to cry," Stef told him, guessing at the root of his sudden I'm-fine façade.

"I'm fine," he said, his voice rough.

"Don't bullshit me," Stef said, rather harshly than she might have meant. She tried not to swear, for Lena's sake more than the kids, but sometimes it slipped out. "You've lost someone you care about and you're hurting. It's okay, Jesús. Let yourself mourn."

Her son ignored her and crossed his room, head down. He smacked into his other mother in the doorway, where she'd suddenly appeared, drawn by the crying noises now audible through the open door.

"Sorry," he mumbled, trying to duck around Lena.

"Stop," Lena said, sticking out an arm to block his exit. "Look at me." Jesús met his mum's eyes defiantly, but upon seeing the love and gentleness in hers, his angry exterior was broken again, and he bit his bottom lip, tears welling.

"C'mere, baby," Lena invited, holding her arms out. Her son fell into her embrace, and she hugged him for a long moment before guiding him over to sit next to his twin.

After a moment of silent comforting, broken only by the twins' gasping breathing as they struggled to control their tears, Lena spoke again.

"We can't bring Lexi back," she started, "as much as we wish we could. But we are here for you. For both of you. We're your moms, and it's our job to help you when things like this happen. This is a loss, and loss is hard, even if it's not death. It's okay to be sad. It's okay to cry," she directed this at Jesús, "and it's okay to mourn. But don't shut us out, okay?"

"We love you both so much," Stef continued, "and we want to be here for you. But we can't support you if you pretend like everything's fine, okay?" Mariana nodded silently, leaning against her mom's side. "Jesús?" He, too, nodded, sighing.

"Can we all agree that you'll talk to us when you're sad?" Lena suggested. "It might not make her come back, but it might make you feel better." Again, the twins nodded.

"Alright," Stef said, kissing first Mariana and then Jesús. "Why don't you two sweethearts get ready for bed now, okay? Come on, Mariana. Let's leave your brother to put on his pajamas."

The three women left the room, after both moms hugged Jesús, who was starting to get embarrassed again. More hugs were exchanged in the hall, and then Stef and Lena sent Mariana off to her room, while they proceeded to their own.

"Do you think we said the right things?" Stef asked as she undressed. "I mean, I've never had my best friend move 3,000 miles away with no prior notice. I didn't really know how to comfort them."

"I think we said exactly the right things," her wife said, sitting down on the end of the bed. "Just because we haven't had their exact experience doesn't mean we can't support them. I think they just need time."

"We can do that," Stef agreed, nodding. "We can do that."


End file.
